Printer inactivity

[WayneM]

We have a HP 720 printer that we've been taking back and forth to our summer
camp. I was wondering what is the best way to handle the cartridges if we
leave the printer over the Winter. Temperatures get down to -20 to - 30 F
and there is no heat during the Winter. I am assuming that the printer won't
mind the cold but the cartridges probably won't like the cold.

Wayne

 

[Bob Williams]

We have a HP 720 printer that we've been taking back and forth to our summer
camp. I was wondering what is the best way to handle the cartridges if we
leave the printer over the Winter. Temperatures get down to -20 to - 30 F
and there is no heat during the Winter. I am assuming that the printer won't
mind the cold but the cartridges probably won't like the cold.

Wayne

As a minimum, I'd remove the cartridges, put Scotch tape over the
nozzles to prevent evaporation and put them in a plastic bag for good
measure.
My first choice, however, would be to move the printer home for the
winter and USE it. No printer likes to sit idle for any length of time.
Bob Williams

 

[Bob Headrick]

As a minimum, I'd remove the cartridges, put Scotch tape over the
nozzles to prevent evaporation and put them in a plastic bag for good
measure.
My first choice, however, would be to move the printer home for the
winter and USE it. No printer likes to sit idle for any length of time.

I agree with Bob on using the printer occasionally rather than storing it. If
you must store the cartridges separately from the printer I would not put tape
on them as this could cause nozzle problems, especially with the color
cartridge. You could put the cartridges in a Tupperware sandwich container
with a small piece of damp folded paper towel or a small piece of sponge. Do
not let anything touch the nozzles. As for storage in the printer, -20F might
not be a big problem, but daily freeze/thaw cycles would be bad.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Bubba]

cartridge. You could put the cartridges in a Tupperware sandwich container
with a small piece of damp folded paper towel or a small piece of sponge. Do
not let anything touch the nozzles.

Is it OK to keep the tupperware box in frize?

 

[WayneM]

Thanx Bobs.

After reading your comments and thinking about it some more, I've decided to
just bring the printer home and use it. It has been a good, reliable
(although slow printer) and much studier than the inexpensive possible
replacements that I have looked at. We have a HP6122 on our home network for
heavy work, but I keep screwing up the network.

Wayne

 

[Michael]

We have a HP 720 printer that we've been taking back and forth to our summer
camp. I was wondering what is the best way to handle the cartridges if we
leave the printer over the Winter. Temperatures get down to -20 to - 30 F
and there is no heat during the Winter. I am assuming that the printer won't
mind the cold but the cartridges probably won't like the cold.

Wayne

You do NOT want to subject electronics to temperature extremes, and
below freezing is extreme. Not only are extremes hard on components,
they can be hard on solder joints, particularly on leads of large-ish
"chips" due to relative TCE's (thermal coefficient of expansion).

I another life I was an engineer in Packaging Assurance where I
conducted thermal stress testing on new "packages" (chips): soldered
parts were cycled from 0C to 100C and back to 0C three or more times/hr,
for months on end to assure that a desired 3- or 5- or 10-year guarantee
on a complete assembly was prudent. Believe me, solder joints can crack
like glass if cycled long enough.